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Monday, May 27, 2013

The founder and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed at his home by police on memorial day weekend following an alleged domestic disturbance call.

75-year-old John Valluzzo, veteran and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed by police when they came to his house in response to a domestic disturbance call. The police are suggesting that he pulled a gun on them and they had no choice but to shoot him, but there is no evidence of that it happened that way.Witnesses say they heard several shots fired inside the residence.

Valluzzo was a decorated Korean War veteran and founded the Military Museum of Southern New England in 1995.The museum called Valluzzo's death at the start of the Memorial Day weekend a "senseless tragedy.""Sorrow fills our hearts at this sad moment," the museum said on its website. "The news of the untimely death of John Valluzzo comes as a great shock to all who knew him. His departure was sudden, unexpected and particularly distressing."

An autopsy is planned for Valluzzo.

State police said Sunday they're investigating the circumstances at the request of the Danbury state's attorney and Ridgefield police.

"Huge numbers of people on Earth are keen to leave the planet forever and seek a new life homesteading on Mars. About 78,000 people have applied to become Red Planet colonists with the nonprofit organization Mars One since its application process opened on April 22, officials announced Tuesday."

Two weeks into a nineteen week application period, more than 78,000 people have applied to become a settler of Mars in 2023.

Mars One, the nonprofit with the goal of establishing a human settlement on the planet, announced the milestone.

"This is turning out to be the most desired job in history," said Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and CEO of Mars One, in the announcement. "These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants."

All applicants have to pay a registration fee, between $5 and $73, depending on what country they hail from, and submit a one-minute video that should convince "people around the world and the Mars One selection committee that you would be a great candidate to become one of the Mars One astronauts," according to the organization's website.

The journey to Mars is one-way because after a prolonged stay in a weightless environment, the human body will not be able to adjust to the higher gravity of Earth upon return, according to Mars One.

Applicants so far come from across the globe, with the most coming from the United States (17,324), China (10,241), and the United Kingdom (3,581). Many of the applicants are younger than 40.

Anders, 51, an applicant from Sweden, said in his video: "I often fantasize to just get on board a spaceship and go, to explore the universe. I often get the feeling that I don't belong here, but up there, in space."

Katarina, 23, an applicant from the United States, said that she's an adventurer and an explorer and grew up in a "sci-fi loving household."

"I've always dreamed of being an astronaut and being able to explore new planets," she said. "I want to go to Mars so I can learn so many amazing things, and share it with Earth to help inspire people to want to continue exploring space and push the boundaries of human knowledge and what we can achieve."

There will be four selection rounds: during the first round the Mars One selection committee "forward the most committed, creative, resilient and motivated applicants," said Dr. Norbert Kraft, Mars One chief medical officer.

Mars One leaders outlined what they are looking for in potential astronauts:

"Applicants need to be at least 18 years of age, have a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust. They must be resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful. Mars One is not seeking specific skill sets such as medical doctors, pilots or geologists. Rather, candidates will receive a minimum of eight years extensive training while employed by Mars One. While any formal education or real-world experience can be an asset, all skills required on Mars will be learned while in training."

After receiving all the applications (online submission is possible through Aug. 31, 2013), regional reviewers will select around 50-100 candidates from different regions on Earth for Round 2.

The selection process will end in 2015 with 28-40 candidates, who will train for the one-of-a-kind mission for around seven years. On the first mission, slated to take off in 2022 and arrive in 2023, four astronauts will launch. Other groups of four will follow every other year.

The first mission is slated to cost about $6 billion and the organization is looking for a round of funding to pay potential suppliers to do conceptual design studies, so it can better calculate costs.Go to www.mars-one.com if you want to apply.

Angelina Jolie's announcement of undergoing a double mastectomy (surgically removing both breasts) even though she had no breast cancer is not the innocent, spontaneous, "heroic choice" that has been portrayed in the mainstream media.We believe it all coincides with a well-timed for-profit corporate P.R. campaign that has been planned for months and just happens to coincide with the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on the viability of the BRCA1 patent.The signs were all there from the beginning of the scheme: Angelina Jolie's highly polished and obviously corporate-written op-ed piece at the New York Times, the carefully-crafted talking points invoking "choice" as a politically-charged keyword, and the obvious coaching of even her husband Brad Pitt who carefully describes the entire experience using words like "stronger" and "pride" and "family."

But the smoking gun is the fact that Angelina Jolie's seemingly spontaneous announcement magically appeared on the cover of People Magazine this week -- a magazine that is usually finalized for publication three weeks before it appears on newsstands. That cover, not surprisingly, uses the same language found in the NYT op-ed piece: "HER BRAVE CHOICE" and "This was the right thing to do." The flowery, pro-choice language is not a coincidence.

What this proves is that Angelina's Jolie's announcement was a well-planned corporate P.R. campaign with carefully-crafted messages designed to influence public opinion. But what could Jolie be seeking to influence?

The so-called Monsanto Protection Act signed into law earlier this year caused such an outrage that people around the world are planning to protest the biotech company later this month. Now a United States Senator is expected to try and repeal that law after mounting pressure.

Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland actually went and released a statement apologizing for allowing the Monsanto Protection Act through and vowing to fight against GMOs and Monsanto. Ultimately, multiple Senators had entered damage control after the jig was up. That is besides Senator Roy Blunt from Missouri, who actually worked with Monsanto (as in he let them write it while he received funding) on the Monsanto Protection Act rider. A rider he says is perfectly reasonable. After all, why not give Monsanto full immunity from the legal system the rest of us are subject to?

Even Obama was getting blasted on his Facebook page following the approval of the Monsanto Protection Act, with the majority of comments coming into his page criticizing his signature on the bill that contained the rider.

Thanks to this activism, it looks like the Monsanto Protection Act may soon be repealed after this new bill hits Washington. This time, we will have plenty of time to let the Senators know that they are voting against the public if they choose to side with Monsanto. And with such a specific agenda for this bill, I see it doing well in the Senate. -